Crossed & Knotted so finely & firmly!!

Crossed & Knotted Book Review

I started reading the book thinking it would be stories of star-crossed lovers and unrequited love; it is all that and so much more. If I say that the title of the book is so apt, the stories truly are knotted and merged with one another so much so that sometimes I felt they had been written by one person and not fourteen different writers. Each story is complete as a standalone and yet they blend so perfectly as a novel. Composite it is and what an effort.

I read most of it late into the night and a few of them gave me the jeepers-creepers. Yes, some of the stories are not scary but they do make you uneasy. A kind of freaky fate awaited the protagonists of the story and it was so effortlessly executed that it made me worry – how easy would be in real life too. As a matter of fact most the stories are rooted into real life incidents and acts and that is what is unsettling. I give full credit to the authors for making the mundane also look cryptic and nasty at times. I must say I enjoyed the twists and turns of the stories came together, blending yet each one very distinctive from the other.
A Curious Dalliance is the story of Meghna and Sudip left me wondering about the strength of a weak mind, the simpleton became the sinister where as The Diary Of Joseph Varughesewas quite intriguing and a bit creepy.

The Web Of Life and the problem of Sian was so twisted that I could not fathom it in real life but traumas to have far reaching effects, so yes it could be true. I could see where the story was going but still I was glued to the book.

The Real Fiction Of Iliana Braun was an easy read but then again the twists and turns were just so flawless, an interesting read with a very different concept.

A Burning Candle was one of my least favorite stories, not because the story line was lacking but just the ending was so weird and I totally freaked out as I was reading it at 2 am at night!!

Relics To Ruins  is one of the stories that made me want to know more and find out how it all ends but sadly the endless conflict is just that. I found the authors take quite different and refreshing and the characters connected beautifully.

Leap Of Faith restored my faith in humanity! Yes, its story line had its share of drama but the positive note in the end made me happy for the characters as well as the amount of variety in the stories.

Reclaiming Life is again a harsh reality of many educated women all over. So many of them silently suffer like Poorni. I really enjoyed the just rewards she gets in the end.

The Dragon Lady was so funny, a nice change from the serious stuff, her tantrums, antics and to finally know she gets sorted too! Kamala could almost be ‘Kamli’ a name in Punjabi for a crazy woman!! J Read to know why?

For A Speck Of A Moment was such a devastating story and it left me shaken too, imagining how easy it is to lose it all! Binoy and Binita were so well suited to each other!

To Ma & Pa, Com Amore! This one shares more love and bring joy to Binoy yet again and Mona Lisa is the love of his life. The only weakness in this story was him not sharing his past love with her. May be since it was not expressed clearly so the author did not mention it. I think Binoy and Sudip are the two luckiest characters after Dimpy in the book!

Look Beyond is the only story that I found did not link too well with the others, the story itself was good, plaguing a man’s inherent fear but it has no link with any character from the past stories!

Dawn At Dusk was a bitter sweet tale with a predictable end, yet I eagerly read the pages just to confirm my thoughts. It brought together closure for so many characters and led to the superb finale of The Last Act. The last story that gave so much food for thought, how selfish can a human be and should be sometimes!!

The Last Act had me read the last page at least twice, once to ensure I read it right and second to ensure the sober, subdued, simpleton was really all that and so much more and how!!

As I don’t read to many mysteries so it was my first brush with the three fates, Clotho, the Spinner, Lachesis, the Allotter and Atropus, the Unturnable made me most perturbed, yes I worried about what they are doing so simply and without remorse. I recommend this book to all lovers of paranormal, supernatural and mystery.

A perfect finale to the story collection, tying all the knots well and crossing all the loose ends! Crossed and Knotted to twist, loop and bind the reader very well! No two were alike!! I recommend it as a must read this summer!

4 **** stars from me.

(I received a copy of the book from Readomania for a Book Tour by The Book Club and the views are my own.)

Crossed &Knotted
India’s First Composite Novel

The Blurb

Crossed & Knotted is India’s first Composite Novel, a book written by fourteen authors in close collaboration with each other. The chapters, each a story in itself, are knotted with one another through characters, events, settings and emotions. The result is a read that criss-crosses through a multitude of emotions bringing out deep rooted human desires. They narrate tales of love and betrayal, suspense and mystery, courage and dilemma, along with hope and resilience. Read it for a taste so tantalizing, that your mind will surely be craving for more!

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ABOUT THE EDITOR

Sutapa Basu is an Honours scholar from Santiniketan and holds a Masters degree in English Literature. Her professional career has seen her as a teacher, editor, and publisher. She has worked with renowned international publishing houses like Oxford University Press and Encyclopaedia Britannica. In the last five years of her professional career, she has launched 111 educational titles, 33 CDs and digital products, a language lab and a website. She has also developed and edited over 450 books over the last thirteen years.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER : READOMANIA

India has traditionally been the land of storytellers and a lot of us have an inherent skill of creating good plots, stories and narrations. With a little encouragement and support, many more authors can be widely read. This is the essence of Readomania-an initiative that nurtures emerging stars of the literary world.

Readomania is an online content discovery platform that brings to life a whole new literary world, with stories, authors, books and a lot more. We also have a publishing house that takes the best of Readomania from the online format to print editions and launches debut authors. Our focus is to bring to the market, new authors and novel concepts, a composite novel being one of them. Our previous book, Chronicles of Urban Nomads, a collection of short stories, was also an experimental publication. 

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